1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to the field of medical equipment and, more particularly, to wheeled stands from which containers of medical fluids, such as saline solutions, blood plasma, and other intravenous fluids, are hung to enable gravity flowing of the fluids to a patient; and which are, for example, typically wheeled along with patients who are transported on a hospital gurney into and from operating rooms, patient's rooms, and so forth.
2. Discussion of the Background:
Anyone who has ever been a patient or a visitor in a hospital, or who has ever watched medical programs or even news broadcasts on television, is familiar with hospital procedures in which patients are moved about hospitals, for example, into operating rooms and trauma centers, on small wheeled tables commonly known as gurneys. Equally familiar is the sight of nurses or other patient attendants following--often running in emergency situations--along with gurneys pushing a tall wheeled stand on which are hung one or more bottles or plastic pouches containing life sustaining fluids, such as blood plasma and saline solutions, which are connected to a patient on the gurney by a flexible plastic tube or tubes. Commonly, these stands with their intravenous fluid containers remain with the patient when the patient is transferred from the gurney onto an operating table or from the gurney into a hospital bed.
These stands, which may be referred to as IV (intravenous) stands, resemble an old fashioned hat rack on wheels, being constructed having a tall, slender, upright post or pole mounted onto a relatively small-sized base usually having four small wheels. The post or pole is fitted with a hanger from which the bottles or pouches of medical fluids are hung.
Because IV stands must be kept close to their associated gurneys, and because gurneys and IV stands must frequently be moved rapidly along sometimes congested corridors and must often be manipulated in operating rooms with limited space and/or with numerous doctors, nurses, and technicians hurrying about, it is necessary that the base portions of IV stands be made relatively small. Otherwise, people would be likely to trip over the bases and the stands would be even more in the way. However, larger IV stand bases would be more likely to be accidently kicked and the stand knocked over.
On the other hand, because IV stand bases are typically made relatively small, the stands are relatively unstable and can be knocked over rather easily, particularly in emergency situations when individuals attending a patient are getting in one another's way and attention is being given to caring for the patient and not so much to keeping the IV stand stable. In this regard, it can be appreciated that an IV stand must always be more or less in unison with its associated gurney. If the stand does not keep up with the moving gurney, the stand may be tipped over by the pull on it by the fluid tubes attached to the patient on the gurney. Alternatively, the pull on the fluid tubes may cause feeding needles attached to the tubes to be pulled out of the patient on the gurney.
Still other problems can occur when the IV stand is placed near a patient's bed in a hospital room. Because of the stand's small base, the stand may be easily tipped over by movement of the attached patient, accidently pulling on the feeding tubes. Yet another problem is encountered with patients who must be connected to an IV solution container, even when the patient is otherwise in condition to be moved around in a wheelchair. In such situations, an attendant is required just to wheel the IV stand around with the patient--thereby adding to patient charges and tying up hospital personnel.
For these and other reasons, improvements are needed to IV stands to make them safer and more convenient to use, and to increase patient safety and reduce hospital costs. It is a principal object of the present invention to provide such improved IV stand improvements.